Smartphone Boyfriend: Thoughts on My Secret Friend

My Secret Friend (2017)

Produced By MBO Official and OPPO TH

I don’t speak Thai but I came across this mini series on Youtube and I thought it would be great to share with you all. I don’t know a lot about Thai dramas as I just recently discovered them so my cultural knowledge isn’t up-to-date in comparison to my understanding of East Asian countries. However, I have seen some Thai commercials and they are more like dramas rather than advertisements.

My Secret Friend is one of those “commercials.” It’s a mini drama special to promote a smartphone called OPPO R9S. In this special, Deejai (Jannine Weigel) wins a sweepstake to receive the latest smartphone OPPO R9S. When she turns on the phone, she finds herself sitting next to a male guy that is said to be “the OPPO R9S.” She names him, Ai-Na (Tor Thanapob Leeratanakajorn), and he helps her try to get the attention of the guy she likes that works at a cafe.

You have to suspend disbelief that a smartphone can actually be a human, and this guy, “Ai-Na” has emotions as he always takes care of Deejai such as buying her ice cream when she is sad. This makes it seem like he is somewhat of a real human rather than a piece of technology. However, we do actually treat our devices as if they were real people—we repair them when they are broken, we add accessories to our devices as if they are clothes, and we may go on monologues as if our technological device is actually listening to us. I like how this drama took that symbolism to the extreme despite it being a bit silly.

This mini drama is a great way to promote a smartphone. They used the male protagonist, Ai-Na, in order to show the special features of the phone such as his eyes are like a camera lens. The purpose of this show is to advertise the smartphone by using a fun, romantic storyline to easily capture an audience’s attention. However, you shouldn’t expect much with the storyline since it’s pretty generic.

Aside from this mini series, Jannine Weigel  and Tor Thanapob Leeratanakajorn starred in Jannine Weigel’s music videos, “Away” and “I’m Glad.” I think they are a cute acting couple as they seem to have great chemistry on-screen.

“Away”

“I’m Glad”

You can watch this series on Youtube.

2/5